Images

December 1st – Another piece of architecture that’s bothering me is the old Three Crowns in King’s Hill, Darlaston; another one I pass frequently, for years it was being used by a jig and inspection company, but now seems to be empty. It;s a genuinely lovely building, which underneath the fake timbers and facing really deserves a better future than dereliction and eventual loss.

The trouble is, who would take on such a building?

I feel sad about this one every time I see it. I hope it gets saved.

November 30th – OK, everybody stop panicking. The Christmas lights are up and on in Brownhills. You can all stop mailing/messaging me.

Yes, I know it’s a work in progress, and one or two ain’t on yet, but they’re up, and look much better than this photo would suggest.

Folk seem really early with this stuff this year…

November 27th – I again returned via Walsall Wood, but unlike the night before, it was clear. I see the christmas lights are going up, and as ever, the High Street looked bustling and beautiful in the night. Walsall Wood is often overlooked, yet it preserves it’s village atmosphere and is surprisingly beautiful in parts. 

An undervalued gem.

November 27th – A difficult day. I had to dash back from Walsall and I’d forgotten my camera, so had to use the phone. This one doesn’t take too bad pictures, to be fair.

As I left work, the sun was trying to come out, and it caught the glass of the Walsall Housing Group offices on the ring road, and made it golden.

A patch of beauty on a hectic day.

November 26th – Getting more than my fair share of wet commutes right now. I had to nip into Brum very early, and then come back; I did so in constant drizzle. When I got to Blake Street, wet and cold, the atmosphere was of grim determination.

Wish it would dry up a bit. We don’t seem to be getting more than a couple of days clear at the moment.

November 23rd – It seems Staffordshire County Council – who’ve not been running Chasewater for long since taking it over from Lichfield District Council – are getting themselves into a bit of a pickle with the boating/duckpond at the country park.

When Lichfield were responsible for the park, the rangers hosed down the surrounding paths, and water changes were common for the pool, so that it didn’t get stagnant and contaminated by too much bird poo. When Staffordshire took over, this regimen seems to have been abandoned; they laid a new hardstanding here in the summer, and within weeks it was encrusted with excrement, as it wasn’t being washed anymore. When it was washed, the water was so polluted in the pond, it was almost luminous green.

The pond was soon drained for ‘a change of water’ – that was weeks ago, and how the pond, it’s new hardstanding and benches are fenced off, still empty.

I’ve asked around; it seems there’s an issue with de-silting a valve and whether pond water can be drained into the main lake now it’s an SSSI; but had the previous maintenance pattern been followed, none of this would have been an issue.

During the summer, there were brave statements about Chasewater being reborn; about it becoming Burntwood by the Sea. Fat chance – Staffs can’t even sort a duckpond.

I’m beginning to think that they couldn’t find their own arses with both hands, a map and a qualified arse-finder for guidance.

November 23rd – A run out on errands late morning was shrouded in grey, overcast damp. I swung out to Pelsall, then back over to Coppice Side and up to Chasewater, Ogley and back to the supermarket. It was a thoroughly grey, uninspiring and lifeless day.

I cut up the cycleway from Apex Road, over the old cement works bridge up to Engine Lane. I was pleased to note the cycleway here has been opened back out and the paths cleared – all by a Community Payback team, who were working cutting the scrub back today.

That pleased me, and makes riding down here a whole bunch nicer. Thanks, folks. Looking good!

November 21st – Thank goodness it’s Friday. Another dreadful, rain sodden commute, but peculiarly, it’s still not getting to me.

Having to nip back to Walsall Wood, I stopped to capture the lights and madness of the traffic.

I normally dread the sadness and loss I feel at this time of year. This time, it’s just not arrived. This pleases and puzzles me. But there is something beautiful about the lights and the water, I guess…

November 21st – After rain in the night, I rode past the old bowling green at Oak Park on my way to work, sadly noting that it was starting to flood once more for winter. If we have much more rain, in a week or two, this will again be a pond.

There had been groundworks here in the Summer, and I hoped it was to fix the blocked land drain causing the problem; but no such luck. 

It seems this forgotten, forlorn park – created by, and for the miners of Walsall Wood to enjoy in perpetuity as a break from the darkness – is to be forever neglected by a council that don’t understand or value it’s significance.

It makes me angry. Very angry indeed.